PRetty in Pittsburgh

In 2010, when I ran my first half marathon, I made a playlist. It was OK, but after fiddling with my iPod around mile 11.5 because “I just had to hear ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas,” I learned I needed to be a bit more strategic. Many playlists later (all at the bottom of this post), I got better, and learned what songs were triggers for pump up music. So when this half marathon #2 came up last month, I was ready. Last year, I had too many songs. This year I did too. Exactly 65 songs, and 4.9 hours worth of music. Perfect for a full, but this was a half. But, I did that on purpose. Sometimes I get skip-happy. Also, I didn’t know if I wanted to listen to all the Girl Talk- All Day songs I put on there. But I was wrong. All Day is the mash up of all mash ups of music. It’s awesome. It’s 12 tracks meant to be listened at one time since they all flow into each other and essentially form one song. What I did was add each track individually throughout, so they were staggered with other, regular songs. It was a good idea, and fun for any kind of run.

One other thing I did differently this year was stopped and listened to things around me. There was the crowds, the bands, and sounds of others by me. I took the time to listen, and didn’t play my music too loud because I didn’t want to miss anything. The result? A PR (personal record) of 17 minutes faster than last year! OK, maybe it wasn’t ONLY the music, but it helped. And below is a screen grab of all the music (click on each image to enlarge). This was on shuffle, so it didn’t come up in this order (another tactic I use for my musical A.D.D.).

To download Girl Talk, click here, then click the MP3s (separated tracks) option, then DOWNLOAD. Once they download, drag the files to your iTunes and run on.

Visit my playlists page for more!

So you just gorged yourself on stuffing and mashed potatoes all weekend, and we’re in the season of holiday parties and cookies. To top it off, it’s dark and cold outside, and we are forced to run or walk on the treadmill. Working out this time of year is the WORST. All I want to do is go home after work and curl up on the couch with some carbs, not run on a box for 60 minutes. But, I do it anyways (most days). So what’s my motivation to pump out five miles on the treadmill? Well, my pants fitting. But more importantly, good songs! If I hear fun music that is new to my ipod, I am more likely to crank out more miles and a faster pace. Since my first post on songs to run to was so popular, I’ve been doing my research to bring you part two. So, without further ado, here they are. Enjoy! And happy running.

Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen
A Little Respect – Erasure
Forget You – Cee-Lo
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
Love Like Woe – The Ready Set
Check it Out – Will.i.am feat. Nicki Minaj
Rock the Casbah – The Clash
Short Skirt/Long Jacket – Cake
Come on Girl – Taio Cruz
Land of 1,000 Dances – Wilson Pickett
Superstitious – Stevie Wonder
Daylight (Remix) – Ninjasonik
Kids – MGMT
Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol
The Rockafeller Skank – Fatboy Slim
Like a G6 – Far East Movement
Shut it Down – Pitbull feat. Akon
Right Here, Right Now – Fatboy Slim
Ester Dean feat. Chris Brown – Drop It Low
Weapon of Choice – Fatboy Slim
Can’t Handle Me – Flo Rida feat. David Guetta
Your Woman – White Town
Me Myself and I – De La Soul
I Melt with You – Modern English
Paper Planes – MIA
Bulletproof – La Roux
Bottoms Up – Trey Songz feat. Nicki Minaj
You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
Such Great Heights – The Section Quartet
Motown Philly – Boyz II Men
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Time to Pretend – MGMT
‘Till I Collapse – Eminem
Krazy – Pitbull
Only Girl in the World – Rihanna
Somebody’s Watching Me – Beatfreakz
Praise You – Fatboy Slim
The Rascal King – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Meet Me Halfway – The Black Eyed Peas
We No Speak Americano – Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP
Tambourine – Eve
Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel
Halo/Walking on Sunshine – Glee Cast
Whip My Hair – Willow
Misery – Maroon 5
Yeah 3X – Chris Brown
Beware – Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z
Memories – David Guetta
Goodie Two Shoes – Adam Ant
Teach Me How to Dougie – Cali Swag District

Bonus: Girl Talk’s New Album “All Day” is one hour and 11 minutes of pure awesomeness rolled into essentially one track of mash-up songs…and it’s free to boot. Listen to this entire thing and you’ll complete a half marathon with no training (kidding). Some of the goodness includes Beck- Loser; Radiohead- Creep; Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell -Drop It Like It’s Hot; Missy Elliott -Get Ur Freak On and Jay-Z -D.O.A. AND THAT’S JUST IN ONE SONG. Swoon. Download it. NOW.

Visit my playlists page for more!

In honor of #MusicMonday, I thought I’d share some songs I love to run to. Ironically, I’m taking the week off from running because I have horrific shin splints but I’m hoping after a week of rest (well, yoga and the elliptical) plus ice, I’ll be all better and can get back to training for the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon. Why is it that my shin splints, which I haven’t had since high school, decided to come back when I am training for my first long distance run? UGH. Anyway, back to the task at hand. Following, in no particular order are some of my favorite songs to run to. There’s a lot, and don’t make fun of me for some of these.

Slower pace/Warm-up/Cool-down
Save it For a Rainy Day – The Jayhawks
Because of You – Ne-Yo
Heat of the Moment – ASIA
General Specific – Band of Horses
I’m Looking Through You – The Beatles
Allentown – Billy Joel
No Rain – Blind Melon
What is Life – George Harrison
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Undo It – Carrie Underwood
You Might Think – The Cars
Forever – Chris Brown
Layla – Derek and the Dominos
Float On – Modest Mouse
Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
September – Earth, Wind and Fire
25 Miles – Edwin Starr
Invisible Touch – Genesis
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Centerfold – The J. Geils Band
D.O.A. – Jay-Z
Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
Flashing Lights – Kanye West
Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson
All These Things That I’ve Done – The Killers
Fool in the Rain – Led Zeppelin
Vogue – Madonna
Return of the Mack – Mark Morrison
Makes Me Wonder – Maroon 5
Just Fine – Mary J. Blige
La Belle et Le Bad Boy – Mc Solaar
Black or White – Michael Jackson
Juicy – Notorious BIG
Love is a Battlefield – Pat Benetar
Easy Lover – Phil Collins
Don’t Lose My Number – Phil Collins
Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
Jesse’s Girl – Rick Springfield
Seeds – The Roots
Tonight, Tonight – Smashing Pumpkins
Cherry Bomb – Spoon
And She Was – Talking Heads
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears For Fears
American Girl – Tom Petty
Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend
Right Now – Van Halen
Baba O’Riley – The Who

Faster pace/High intensity
Telephone – Lady GaGa (Hands-down my favorite song to run to at the moment)
Just Dance – Lady GaGa
Bad Romance – Lady GaGa
Poker Face – Lady GaGa
Now That We Found Love – Heavy D & The Boyz
Venus – Bananarama
I Got a Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
Love Generation – Bob Sinclair
Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) – Bob Sinclair
Radar – Britney Spears
Womanizer – Britney Spears
Piece of Me – Britney Spears
Candy Man – Christina Aguilera
What You Got – Colby O’Donis
Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Damaged – Danity Kane
Groove is in the Heart – Deee-Lite
Call on Me – Eric Prydz
Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
Tik Tok – Ke$ha
She Wolf – Shakira
Shots – LMFAO
Got Money – Lil Wayne
U Can’t Touch This – MC Hammer
Beat It – Michael Jackson
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
PYT – Michael Jackson
Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus
Maneater – Nelly Furtado
Right Stuff – New Kids on the Block
Bojangles – Pitbull
C’Mon Ride It – Quad City DJs
Walk This Way – Run DMC
Fire Burning – Sean Kingston
Renegade – Styx
YMCA – The Village People
One Night in Bangkok – Vinylshakerz
Green and Grey – Virginia Coalition
Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
I Got It From My Mama – Will.i.am
I Love It – Young Jeezy

I’m always looking for new, fun songs to run to. I find a lot of upbeat stuff on the Bob Sinclair and David Guetta Pandora channels. What other songs should I download?

Visit my playlists page for more!